Description

Back-Story:

Standing at the entrance of your tent, you gaze at the snow-capped peak before you. You inhale the cold alpine air, sharp discomfort awakening your adventurous spirit. The feeling of untamed freedom is addictive. This is not your first mountain nor will it be your last.

You imagine different routes up the mountain. Dangerous rock, cold snow, and deceptive glaciers all await you. The weather, unpredictable. You are prepared with upgraded gear, quality supplies, and bold new climbing strategies designed to prove your climbing abilities.

Can you avoid bad weather, stay on your route, and out climb other mountaineers? Do you have what it takes to be the best? Check your boots, shoulder your pack, and grab your ice axe: it’s time to find out!

Theme:

Mountaineers is a strategic board game in which 1-4 players compete against each other and AI climbers to earn climbing points (victory points) as they maneuver around an 18 in./45 cm tall rotating 3D modular game board.

The theme of Mountaineers is lighthearted and fun, primarily focused on competitive route finding, resource management, character building, and upgrades, while challenging players to react to various exciting (and sometimes comical) events that occur on the mountain.

Strategy:

Strategy during both set-up and gameplay is important. At the beginning of a game, players need to choose four climbing routes, one character, and a starting position that work well together, in order to earn the maximum amount of points possible. However, as the game progresses, the mountain terrains fill up, making it more difficult to complete certain climbing routes.

Additionally, various mountain conditions change (once per player), and event cards (drawn on each turn) require players to adapt their strategy, change their climbing routes, and purchase various combinations of gear upgrades to continue climbing.

Resource management is important as players start with a limited number of thirty route markers and will on average draw only sixty supply tokens during a game. Depending on the game and the various difficulty of event cards used, players have to balance how often they spend supplies and route markers in order to climb efficiently and complete routes.

Climbing strategy is also important. Players must be careful in what order they complete routes, how they maneuver on the mountain, and whether or not they pay extra to “lock in” certain route markers to avoid sabotage by other players.

Game Play:

A typical turn involves drawing an event card, resolving the conditions of the event card (which may apply to other players), saving the event card for later use with your character, performing 0 to 2 regular actions, 0 to 1 special actions (if available), and special character actions (as allowed).

Games with 1 to 4 players last ten rounds, each player drawing a total of ten event cards. For 1 to 2 player games (and more challenging 3 to 4 player games), an “AI” mechanism can cause “automated climbers” to move around the mountain, placing route markers and blocking/sabotaging players.

The goal of a 2-6 player game is to have the most victory points at the game end, and the goal of a one-player game is to have a specfied number of of victory points, based on the type of route cards drawn.